Unseen
by Teyaki
Summary: Even a perfect world only takes one instant to go from utter peace to total chaos. Yuffie Kisaragi learns this the hard way when Wutai becomes the target of a terrorist attack. Godo's death leaves his country with nothing but a declaration of war from an unknown enemy and a 17-year-old, cocky heir to the throne, hellbent on vengeance, lacking every bit of aptitude for diplomacy.
1. Prologue

**Unseen**

**Author's Note: **It's probably needless to say that I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters (although I'd certainly love owning these people, all the _things _I could do with them...*evil laugh*.) However, the writing's all mine, and of course, hopefully, subject to improvement, which is why feedback of any kind is much appreciated. So let's get the story started...

* – * – * – * – * – * – *

_**Prologue**_

* – * – * – * – * – * – *

She had thought Wutai was boring. The picturesque houses were boring. The quietly flowing river was boring. Feeding her cats was boring. Heck, even climbing the dangerous Da-Chao mountains was boring after the hundredth time. But the most boring thing of all was her father.

'_It's been one month again since your birthday,'_ he'd said.

'_When will you finally grow up and behave like a woman?'_ he'd said.

'_My worst nightmares would come true, were you to take over Wutai after me,'_ he'd said.

'_Ungrateful brat.'_ he'd said.

Of course she had shot back that she didn't give a rat's ass and what a senile old geezer he was. No way she'd let him see how much their arguments tired her out lately. She just wanted to get away. Travel again, rob clueless people blind of their materia. She'd thought that it wasn't fair that a hero like her, who _saved the world,_ was expected to settle down and live such a normal boring life. She had wanted action, adventures, feel the adrenaline fierce battles ignited in her, she wanted to feel _alive_ again.

But now, as she looked up into the dark red sky which was obscured by thick black clouds of smoke, Yuffie Kisaragi regretted ever having these thoughts.

Because her Wutai was burning.

Another ear-deafening explosion ripped the top floor of the Pagoda apart before her very eyes. Instantly, the faces of the Five Mighty Gods flashed in her mind.

_Gorki. Shake. Chekhov. Staniv…..Godo. GODO!_

Without a second thought she sprinted into the crumbling building.

"Gorki! GORKI! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

She skidded to a stop on the smooth wooden ground in the middle of the perfectly clean room, frantically looking around. If it weren't for the dust and rubble raining from the ceiling, no one could have guessed that half the Pagoda was on fire.

No one answered Yuffie's shouts.

"Damnit," she mumbled, running to the stairs, taking three at a time.

Turning the corner on the next floor, she promptly collided with something. The impact made her flail and almost fall back down the steps she'd come. At the last moment, a slender hand grabbed her by the collar and hauled her forward.

"Yuffie! What are you doing here?"

It was Chekhov.

Yuffie took a second to gawk, before she recomposed herself.

"What I'm DOING here?! Kicking your sorry butts, so you old people will _move _it and get the HECK outta here!", she shouted over the crunching noise of a big chunk of ceiling crashing down onto the floor. The smell of smoke and burnt wood became more distinct by the second.

"We're alright! Staniv is at the top looking for Lord Godo and Gorki is helping Shake upstairs. Please don't endanger yourself, Yuffie, it's not necessa-"

"The hell it's not!" Yuffie cut her off, running straight past her and up the next flight of stairs.

High, scorching orange flames were scattered all across the room already. And they were spreading rapidly. Several pieces of floor and ceiling were missing and still coming off in a matter of instants. Huddled into a corner was a small, lumpy figure covered with soot.

Approaching it, while evading the fire as best she could, Yuffie recognized Shake. She kneeled beside him.

"Shake! You alright?"

Shake looked at her as derisively as always.

"Whaddaya think, brat? If I'd be alright, would I be sitting here in the middle of a frickin' fire?"

Yuffie growled, wondering why the hell she even put up with him.

"So what's your damn problem, then, midget?"

"….my leg won't move…."

"Jeez, you're such a wimp," she grit out through her teeth as she lifted him up by his upper arms and carry-dragged him to the stairs.

"CHEKHOV!"

"Yuffie?" replied a weak voice from downstairs.

"CATCH AND MAKE A RUN FOR IT! OUTTA HERE!" Yuffie hollered, hurling Shake down the stairs.

Shake's loud "AAAAHHH" was drowned out by a merrily burning, ancient dresser landing heavily on the floor, followed by a series of splintered wood.

"Holy Leviathan…" Yuffie whispered, before she continued to the fourth floor. Half way up the stairs, Gorki blocked her way.

"Lady Yuffie, I'm afraid I can't let anyone pass, especially not you. It's not safe."

"No kidding," Yuffie said dryly.

"I understand that you worry about your father's safety, but he has both Staniv and the foreigner with him. They are all exceptionally skilled men."

Yuffie frowned. "Foreigner? What foreigner?"

"A visitor from the East who had asked for an audience with Godo early this morning….Yuffie, this is not the time to be discussing –"

"Damn right, so let me through already!"

"I'm afraid I can't – "

Before Gorki had the chance to finish, Yuffie ducked and kicked his legs out from under him. As he went down with a startled shriek she jumped over him, spinning in mid-air and landing neatly on her feet before hopping up the last steps.

"Leave it to me and skedaddle, gramps!" she shouted over her shoulder, then choked and coughed violently. The smoke up here was so intense it was suffocating. The blazing flames were blinding and she almost ran straight onto a wide hole in the floor. Her eyes stung as she tried to make out any sign of Godo or Staniv. Blinking until tears formed at her eyes, she carefully made her way to the stairs once again. Fire and little mountains of rubble and unidentifiable objects turned this into a painfully difficult task. By the time she reached her destination, Yuffie was covered in ash and grime from head to toe and breathing raggedly. Just as she set her foot on the first step, a huge beam fell through the ceiling and pierced the floor barely an arm's length from her with a bone-shattering crack. She felt the ground underneath her give way and immediately acted on instinct. She bent her knees and jumped, just as the wooden planks under her feet plummeted downward. Grabbing onto the edge of the next piece of stairs she could get a hold of, she hung on with all her might, feeling sharp splinters drilling themselves through her gloves and into her palms.

With a grunt, she swung herself forcefully onto solid ground.

She would've run forward to look for Godo and Staniv, but there was almost nothing left to walk on. Her eyes grew wide as saucers as she came to a stop in front of a hole as big as half a soccer field…there was practically nothing left of the room, safe for small stripes of floor adjoining what was left of the walls. The roof was practically non-existent as well, only single beams and patches of it were left in the corners of the building. Yuffie felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down into an endless ocean of fire and destruction.

_That must be what hell is like_, she thought and for the very first time in her life, she felt an incredibly icy sensation shoot throughout her body, closing her throat and tightening around her heart like a steel fist. The only time something had come even remotely close to making her feel like this was when she'd seen Sephiroth jump straight at Aeris, his sword glinting in the white light…

Stifling a shiver, she shook her head so hard that her raven-black hair flew in every direction, sending dust and dirt sailing all around her.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, now's not the time to start freakin' thinking._

Instead she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"DAD! CAN YOU HEAR ME? ARE YOU HERE? DAD? DAAAAAD! ANSWER ME, GODO, YOU OLD COOT!"

More smoke got into her lungs and she coughed again, doubling over from the stinging pain in her chest. As her coughing fit ebbed away, a solemn, quiet voice carried over to her. So quiet, in fact, that for a second she was sure she'd imagined it.

"Lady Yuffie….over here…"

She narrowed her eyes to slits, fighting to keep her vision from blurring, and stared hard into the thick smoke. Something resembling a faded blue yukata in the far corner caught her eye.

_There._

Pressing herself close to the wall, Yuffie tiptoed carefully alongside the thin, brittle wood that was left of the ground. Every here and then she froze and held her breath when more burning pieces of roof rained down upon her, accompanied by clouds of dust that made her sneeze and cough. As soon as she reached a still intact platform that had about the size of a big bed, she jerked to a halt, going completely stiff. The blue yukata belonged to Staniv. He, too, was coughing hard and looked like he'd jumped right into a big, full urn. But Yuffie didn't even see him. What she saw, was a man lying on his back, and a large puddle of dark red blood that reflected the dancing flames in a way that seemed both uncanny and simply beautiful. Unable to control her body, Yuffie numbly registered that her legs were taking her to the fallen person's side on their own accord. Dropping to her knees, she stared at his face disbelievingly. His ghostly white, still, almost peaceful face.

_He's asleep_, she thought distantly.

"Dad," she whispered, her voice so hoarse and rough, she didn't recognize it as her own.

_He's asleep._

She put a hand to his shoulder, shaking him slightly. "Dad, wake up."

_He's asleep._

There was blood all over the left side of his chest, a hole in the mangled flesh where the heart should have been. "Wake up!" she demanded in a sharper tone, shaking him more forcefully.

_He's just asleep._

"Yuffie…" She felt a firm hand on her own shoulder, trying to pull her back from her father's lifeless body. She saw that his throat was…open. Thick blood kept pouring out of it at an unnervingly slow pace. She put her other hand on his other shoulder, shaking him with all her might. "WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, GODDAMMIT!"

_He's just asleep….isn't he?_

"YUFFIE, STOP IT!" Staniv whirled her around and before she knew what was going on, she fell back with a burning cheek. For a second she thought a piece of burning wood had hit her, before she realized what the position of Staniv's flat hand meant. He looked at her with a mix of compassion, sadness and utter despair.

_Isn't he…?_

The next thing she knew, Staniv's arms were around her and he pressed her head into his shoulder, hugging her tightly.

"I'm sorry, Yuffie…I'm so sorry."

She felt his tears run into her hair and closed her eyes, closed her mind, closed her heart. He was gone.

_Yes, he's asleep…forever._


	2. Chapter 1 - Inheritance

**Unseen**

**Author's Note:** Here we go again! I still didn't manage to obtain Square Enix and its respective game rights. Blasted. But, on the bright side, I obtained a review! Thanks _CupofTeaforAliceandHatter, _as I didn't expect much of a feedback on just the kind of short Prologue. Now, to keep it nice and simple: on with the story!

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

_**Chapter 1 – Inheritance**_

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

It had been half a year.

Half a year since Sephiroth had been defeated, meteor had been destroyed and, not to forget, the world had been saved.

And here she was, putting groceries into the refrigerator.

Tifa Lockhart sighed.

Things really had changed. Grocery shopping instead of purchasing weapons and armor. Having to pay for expensive items instead of finding them in treasure chests. Talking to customers instead of fighting deadly monsters.

It was something she had gotten used to disturbingly quickly. Not to say she didn't like to lead a perfectly normal life. She was exceedingly proud of her 7th Heaven, the bar she'd built up with her very own hands in the course of mere months.

Cloud had stayed at her side wordlessly, moving to Edge with her, helping out wherever he could. The thought of him wanting to move on together with his childhood friend, after all that had happened in Nibelheim, filled her with overwhelming gratitude.

However, something was missing.

Tifa missed her friends.

AVALANCHE had split up six months ago and scattered into all parts of the world. They hadn't heard from each other ever since. God knew Tifa'd be calling them every day, hadn't her detour into the Lifestream back in Mideel rendered her PHS useless altogether. She hadn't asked Cloud for his, either. He'd probably thrown it away or hidden it somewhere, being the chatty person he was.

As if on cue, the doorbells started ringing melodically, announcing the arrival of no other than the spiky-haired blond in question.

"Cloud! Welcome home!" Tifa greeted in an overly chipper manner.

Cloud looked at her, furrowing his brows ever so slightly.

"….what is it?"

Tifa gave him a soft smile.

"…you always know when I have something on my mind, don't you?"

"…" Cloud merely sat his bag on a table, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, the thing is…it's Christmas next week. And I wondered if we could…go on a trip. With that monstrous bike you bought. What did you name it?"

"…Fenrir?"

"Yeah, right, that one. I know you're busy getting this idea with the delivery service to work out and all…but I thought maybe you're free over Christmas?"

_And not in Aeris' church, but at home for a change, _she mentally added.

He hesitated before he asked: "…where would you want to go?"

"Well….you see, I was sort of planning an AVALANCHE get-together…so I thought we could drive to Rocket Town and ask Cid to pick everyone up."

She'd been planning to do something along those lines for a while now.

Cloud tentatively raised an eyebrow.

"Why not call him?"

"How? It's not like I have his number or anything…"

"…Rocket Town address book."

Well, _that_ was an idea.

"Okay….but you know we still need to set up a phone connection and I don't –"

Cloud held up a cell phone.

Tifa's mouth fell open.

"When did you get THAT?"

He shrugged.

Ignoring his lack of enthusiasm, Tifa semi-hugged him, beaming.

"You're the best, Cloud. I'll call Cid and ask him to gather everyone together. Sweet Shiva, why didn't I think to ask you sooner?"

The corners of his lips twitched as she took the phone from him and went to get Cid's number.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Yuffie slammed the door shut behind her, then slid down its length until she sat on the floor, coughing violently. This had to be the longest, not to mention _worst_, day of her entire life.

They hadn't managed to get Godo's body out of the hellfire that used to be the Pagoda. It had been a miracle in itself that Yuffie and Staniv had made it out with just a few scratches and burns.

_And friggin' smoke poisoning_, Yuffie thought miserably as she gasped for air.

She had allowed herself to linger at the entrance and stare back into the flames that would be her father's grave. Until several people had shoved her out of the way to try and save what was left of the sacred building.

After that, she'd been running all around town to help putting out small and big fires practically everywhere.

Godo's house had also been the target of a bomb. There was nothing left of it but ashes and burnt wood.

After the work had been done, the remaining Mighty Gods as well as the New Crescent Unit, that had been under her father's direct order, had swarmed around her like bugs, suddenly concerned about her _well-being_. It had taken ages and her last breath to get away from them and into the silence of her unscathed house.

She needed a bath. And, more importantly, she needed to think. She needed to understand what had happened and how and _why_. And then she needed to find the ones responsible, hunt them down and make them pay.

She grit her teeth and clenched her fists as sheer hatred flared through her limbs. She was going to fight again. But this time, she would fight to kill.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Cloud had been right, you couldn't miss Cid's name in Rocket Town's address book. Up to now, Tifa hadn't known that both his attempts to fly into space and his airship had made him _that _famous. But the size of the print said it all.

When she eventually dialled Cid's number, she braced herself for the worst, knowing that the foul-mouthed pilot certainly wasn't happy that it took her half a year to call him.

After just two rings he picked up.

"What the #&$% is it?"

She winced inwardly.

"Hey, Cid, it's Tifa. How are you doing?"

There was silence for a minute.

"…Cid?"

"Holy shit, Teefs, didn't expect'cha after all that time."

She could hear him crunching on his cigarette as he grimly added.

"Guess I shoulda known, though. Want me ta pick yer up?"

That took her by surprise. _Should have known…?_

"Um…no, actually I wanted to ask you to pick the others up and get them to my place…you know, so we could all meet again for Christmas."

"Christmas? How can you be fuckin' thinkin' 'bout that shit, now, woman?" He sounded sincerely incredulous.

"What? What's wrong with that?" Tifa demanded, irritated at his tone.

"…you haven't been watchin' th'news, have ya?"

"What are you talking about? What news? Don't tell me they forbid Christmas."

"Tifa, there was a report on TV this afternoon. They were freakin' out because a helluva lotta tourists wanted their money back an' shit."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

His dead serious tone worried her.

"They were all vacationin' in Wutai, Teefs. It got attacked this mornin'. Lotsa bombs and fire, 's all I know. Stupid media dunno anythin', shitheads are jes' arguin' over the damned tourists' rights, not givin' a crap 'bout what happened to the townspeople."

Tifa's blood ran cold. She put her hand to her mouth, eyes wide and disbelieving. This was a bad dream, right? Or a joke….no, not even Cid would joke about something like that…

"…Tifa, you there?"

She held onto the cell phone so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"Y-yeah, I'm here."

"Yeah, look, I was jes' 'bout ta leave ta check on things there, 'cuz the Highwind is up an' runnin' again. Guess they might need help. You wanna come, I'll pick ya up if ya tell me yer damned location."

She swallowed her questions and nodded. Then, remembering that Cid couldn't see it, she said in a firm voice: "Yeah, me and Cloud will come too. We're in Edge, we can meet near the old train station not far south from town."

"Alright, see ya in a tad."

With that he hung up.

A second later, Tifa was trying to call Yuffie's PHS.

No one answered.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Granted, she was clean, her futon was cozy and she had finally stopped having coughing fits. But her thoughts just didn't calm down enough to let her sleep tonight. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Wutai, _her Wutai_, burning, burning, burning. Then she saw Godo, saw his blood, his face, his throat…she'd run to the bathroom to puke twice already. And her thoughts kept reeling. Who was that foreigner Godo had been with? Why didn't they see any trace of him in the Pagoda? What did they have to talk about in the first place? What would happen now? Officially, she was the heir to the throne. Ruling Wutai? No way she could do that. She was seventeen, for Leviathan's sake!

It was all so surreal, she wished she could just fall asleep. Because she was sure that, when she woke up the next morning, Godo would be alive and Wutai would be as intact and boring as ever.

Boring. Oh, how she wanted Wutai to be back to boring right now. Wasn't it all her fault? Wasn't she the one who'd wished for 'some action' to begin with?

She turned onto her other side for the sixtieth time that night when she heard a faint knock on her door. Sighing, she got up and opened it just wide enough to peek through.

"Yuffie."

"…Staniv."

"May I?"

She let him in before sliding the door shut again. She didn't bother turning on the light. Instead she crossed her arms and plopped down on her futon, looking at him expectantly.

"What is it, gramps?"

"I hope I haven't awoken you from sleep…"

She made a dismissive gesture.

"Sleep's for losers. So?"

"I wanted to talk to you about…Lord Godo's death."

Her right eye twitched for a split second before she put a perfectly smooth expression on her face.

"…what about it?"

"…he was…still alive when I found him. He was able to give me something…and I was able to hear his last words. I thought you should know."

She didn't ask why he told her that now, pretty much in the middle of the night. Somehow she understood. The darkness seemed comforting.

"And here I was worrying you came to torture me with my duties as soon-to-be-empress. Stupid me," she muttered.

"…"

She contemplated saying nothing. Waiting until Staniv was fed up with her obnoxious behaviour and left. But Yuffie was never really chummy with silence. And even though she would have never admitted it to anyone, what mattered to Godo in his last moments, mattered all the more to her.

"Tell me."

Staniv looked up into her eyes, searching her face. She stared right back. After a moment he averted his eyes and cleared his throat, pulling a small piece of crumpled paper out of a porch on his obi. He pressed it into her hand without another word.

Yuffie unfolded it slowly, letting her gaze wander from left to right again and again.

_Dear Godo,_

_I want to make an announcement. No, two, actually. The first one is as follows:_

_This Christmas, we will celebrate the downfall of Wutai._

_Preparations are complete and at this very moment, a few good friends of mine are in town, enjoying their 'holidays' just like some of the countless tourists that keep your precious country alive. I told them to have fun. They said they'd start with it at ten a.m._

_The second announcement is simply to prove that the first is neither a joke nor an empty threat._

_This will be the last thing you read. Shortly after, you will be dead. But I'm sure you've realized that by now._

_Now you will probably be thinking something like, "why is this happening?" or "what did I do to deserve this?"_

_Comprehensible._

_And because you are a dying man, I'm inclined to drop you a hint…maybe you will figure it out before your time's up._

"_The day the crimson sun set for the last time, after ten years of constant shining, was the day the Lord ripped a bone out of his body, sacrificing it to the One With A Hundred Faces to gain eternal peace. The Lord was granted his wish as the Hundred Faces turned the bone into a sword and severed his head from his shoulders. This caused the bone-sword to shatter and from that moment on the shards kept slicing their way through everything the treacherous Lord ever held dear. Thus, they will continue slicing until they reached the Promised Land."_

_Even after your death, I don't expect Wutai to go down without a battle._

_Merry Christmas and my best regards,_

_The Bone_


	3. Chapter 2 - Fire

**Unseen**

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

_**Chapter 2 – Fire**_

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

The paper gave a loud crunch as Yuffie clenched her fist around it.

"What kind of absolute bullshit _is _this?"

"…well, we do know now that what he…or she, wrote, was not an empty threat by any means," Staniv uttered matter-of-factly.

It was hard to focus on anything right now. Her mind was racing, but at the same time a haze of all-consuming rage seemed to eat away at her thought processes.

He'd written his people had started 'having fun' just when the first bomb blew up. He was making fun of them!

Staniv tore her out of her inner turmoil.

"Godo gave me that paper with his last ounce of strength…I assume it was given to him after he was…attacked. It truly was the last thing he read before –"

"That's enough!" Yuffie cut him off, bolting to her feet.

"I swear by Leviathan, I'll make this sucker wish he was never born! I'll beat his half-assed poetry outta him and make him spill what the HELL he did all this for! I'll feed him his stupid paper in pieces until-"

"Yuffie," Staniv interrupted calmly.

"WHAT?" she was shaking with fury and practically oozing sparks.

"Please consider that as of now you are the head of this country. The people rely on you. The Mighty Gods, the New Crescent Unit and all ninjas capable of fighting await your orders. I understand your feelings, but please don't let your emotions get the better of you. We need to keep our eyes on the road. We need to act efficiently now or the end of Wutai might indeed be nigh."

She glared at him defiantly.

"So you're saying I suck as leader because I don't keep my big mouth shut and pretend that everything's just _dandy _and that, oh, the guy who killed my father might even be s'posed to get a damned trial? Is that it? Big and mighty leaders can't just beat the crap outta their enemies anymore or what? You know what? You can shove your freakin' Mighty Gods and Crescent Unit and all that yadda yadda up your old, senile a-"

"His last words," Staniv shouted over her colourful curses, "were: '_protect Wutai_'."

Yuffie stilled. Silence settled over them and she looked down at her feet. Finally she mumbled:

"…not very creative, was he?"

"…I'm sure they were not meant for me," Staniv said softly.

Yuffie closed her eyes momentarily.

_Stupid old geezer. He shoulda known that he didn't need to tell me that…_

She straightened and looked into Staniv's tired eyes, determination flickering through her own.

"…I understand."

The elderly man gave her one of those lenient smiles he'd always given her when she was a little kid and refused to practice pouring tea, challenging him to a fight instead.

"I see. So what are we to do now, Lady Kisaragi?"

"Call the people together. Tell the Crescent Unit to gather everyone who is able and willing to fight. We'll meet in two hours in front of the Pagoda Ruins. I don't care if you have to haul everyone out of their beds. Tonight we'll decide over Wutai's future."

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

"Good ta see you two nutjobs haven't changed at all," smirked Cid, rubbing his neck when Tifa released him of her bear-hug.

"Not at all," he repeated with twinkling blue eyes as he shook Cloud's silently offered gloved hand.

"Neither have you, Cid. And I'm really not sure if that's a good thing," Tifa answered jokingly, giving his cigarette a pointed look.

"Ah, well…Shera made me promise ta stop when she…y'know, gets all chubby'n crap."

Tifa's eyes widened. "Is she…?"

Cid held up his hands quickly. "What the &#*$, no, no, NO! Jes'…speakin' theoretically, y'know."

Tifa smiled. "Okay. I get it."

Then her expression turned grim.

"I guess we'd better get going now, hm?"

Cid nodded. "Damn right."

Five minutes later, they were standing on the bridge of the Highwind, watching the land fly by underneath them.

For a while they exchanged stories about what everyone had been up to in the past months. Even Cloud put in a word here and there, adding details whenever Tifa forgot to mention something about how they moved to Edge, opened 7th Heaven after endless back and forth with all sorts of authorities and generally worked hard to make a living. Cid talked a lot about Shera and how she helped him to repair the Highwind to make it fly again. He also kept going on about how Rocket Town was prospering ever since Meteorfall. Obviously he'd kept in contact with Barret, because he told them that the burly man was travelling a lot to find new energy sources as alternative to the Lifestream. He had allowed Elmyra, Aeris' adoptive mother, to stay in the house he purchased in Kalm with a part of the money some of their mastered materia had sold for back then. She was the one watching Marlene whenever he was away.

They had been flying and talking for a good two hours before they fell into comfortable silence.

Surprisingly, it was Cloud who broke it.

"So…any news on Wutai?"

When Tifa had come to him with a deep frown on her face and this pleading aura of urgency around her after the conversation with Cid, he'd immediately known that something was wrong.

She had repeated Cid's words to him and he agreed to come along without hesitation. AVALANCHE might have split up months ago, but that didn't change the fact that a friend needed help.

Cid audibly chewed on his cigarette before he answered.

"Not really. 'S drivin' me crazy. Been tryin' ta get sumthin' outta the radio an' all, but those punks didn't even mention anythin' 'bout the town. Jes' some kinda shit 'bout tourists mass-cancelin' their vacation there."

"Hn."

"Well…Wutai has always been a little closed-off. I'm not surprised that nothing is getting through to the press…," Tifa mused, looking worried.

"How long until we're there?" Cloud asked, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

"Hmph. Dawn I'd say. Still a while I know, but my baby isn't as fast as she used to be since we violently bashed her outta that f*#%ing crater."

"Hmm." Tifa stared out of the large front window, folding her hands behind her back.

"If the others were here it would feel just like the old times…don't you think?"

Cid snorted. "Ha. Yeah. Jes' like the good ol' times. Though I really dun need the brat to puke all over my ship again."

He halted for a second before he added in a subdued voice:"….hope the kid's alright."

Cloud shifted, looking out of the window as well.

Tifa sighed deeply. "You're not the only one, Cid…you're not the only one."

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

The square in front of the Pagoda Ruins was on fire.

At least that's what it looked like from afar. The people had brought candles and torches. Partially to find their way through the darkness, because street lanterns only glowed at festivals, and also out of tradition. The light would lead The Lost to the Promised Land. That's what old Wutaian legends told. For all Yuffie knew, about a dozen people died today. Far more were injured. And there were more to die, that was for sure.

Yuffie watched the whistling flames with satisfaction. Regardless of their symbolic meaning, for her it was a sign that her people was ready to fight.

_Yeah. Look at us, buggers, we're fighting fire with fire._

The Four Mighty Gods had created a semi-circle around her. Behind them, the ninjas of the New Crescent Unit kneeled in line, allowing a good view of a large group of people, men and women, dressed in ninja gear, standing in rows. To their right, fanned out onto the whole square, huddled people of all looks and ages.

Nodding to Staniv, who nodded back in understanding, she climbed the stairs to the former entrance of the Pagoda and looked into the faces of her people. It was overwhelming. Despite this kind of time, all of Wutai seemed to have gathered here.

It was weird. She had never done anything like this before, she should have been nervous like hell. But all of a sudden she felt utterly calm. Up till now she hadn't even known the meaning of the word. _Calm_. It was the very first time that she was so sure about something, that her mind was set so firmly. She hadn't even felt that kind of determination when she first left Wutai to go materia hunting.

Straightening, she coughed loud enough for everyone to hear. The crowd went silent.

"People of Wutai," she started, lifting her chin up and gazing intently into the countless pairs of eyes locked onto her.

"I'm not gonna bore you with crap talk about why we're here and what happened today. We all know that."

She could see Staniv sigh, Gorki cringe, Shake snort and Chekhov grimace. She almost smirked.

"The question is, where do we go from here? I'll tell you where we go, alright. That's what I'm here for. So, listen. That's what _you're_ here for. I guess. I'll only say it once.

On December 25, meaning in six days, enemies of unknown origin, unknown srength and unknown number will come here. I say enemies, because they specifically declared that they'll be coming with the intent to take down Wutai."

Several gasps echoed around the square. Others didn't look surprised, but narrowed their eyes and set their jaws.

"Our reason to take this seriously is obvious. They're the same assfaces as the ones who started this mess today. They're the same fu-"

"_Yuffie!"_ Chekhov hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"-ahem, the same _homo sapiens _as the ones who killed Lord Godo."

She paused to take a deep breath.

A young man, barely older than her, raised his hand and shouted.

"So Lord Godo didn't die in the fire?"

She stiffened.

"Who the heck told you that? No, wait, I don't wanna know. Just go and beat him up. Of course he didn't. Someone like him wouldn'ta let himself get killed by a little fire. He was attacked and fatally wounded either shortly before the bomb exploded or right after."

She deliberately left out the details about the missing heart and the slit throat. It also seemed wiser to hold the information about the foreigner back.

The boy nodded meekly.

An older woman, who was standing in one of the rows of the fighters, spoke up next.

"So what's going to happen now, mylady?"

Yuffie looked at her, the flames of the torches seeming to blaze fiercely in her narrowed brown eyes.

"Three guesses," she said, then raised her voice and let her gaze sweep over the crowd again.

"I received a writing that was meant for Lord Godo, in which our enemies elaborate that they don't expect Wutai to surrender. They know we have our pride, gotta give'em that. So I say…let's not disappoint them. Let them come."

"We'll fight?" One of the guys of the New Crescent Unit asked.

Yuffie nodded.

"Here is my advice: if you want to fight against the ones who ripped our town apart, humiliated us and killed our friends and family, stay with me, the New Crescent Unit and the Mighty Gods. We'll do everything in our might to protect Wutai. If you don't want to fight or don't trust us to protect you, leave. Leave and you will surely make it out unharmed. Those of you who decide to go, please go _now_. I know it's a lot to ask, but we don't have time. What we need right now is organization and indecisiveness has no part in that. I'll give you half an hour to make your decision."

With that she descended the stairs again and dropped unceremoniously on the first step.

Instantly, she could hear murmuring erupt among the crowd again.

Shake limped over and sat down beside her.

"Wasn't bad for a first, kiddo," he said with a toothy grin.

"Wow, that coming from you. I feel like I just won a greatest-lunatic-award or something," she retorted, rolling her eyes.

He snickered. "Yeah, guess lunatics we are. We have no idea what we're up against. And still we just run straight in…I kinda like that."

She had to grin. "Yeah, same here. We'll all die for a purpose, imagine that."

"Don't say that," Chekhov scolded her, stepping to her other side.

"Yeah, what's with the positive thinking?" Shake said.

Yuffie blinked.

"…huh. Right. See what this leader stuff is doing to me already. I can't wait to get my hands on these damned wankers, so I can beat'em to poop and steal their materia and let off steam. Like, totally."

"Lady Yuffie," Gorki joined them.

"There's one thing I need to ask. Lord Godo's cremation ceremony –"

"- has to wait," she growled. "We have a battle to fight."

"…I see."

"Lady Yuffie."

She already couldn't hear it anymore.

_Am I the sister for everything now, or what?_

This time it was someone from the Crescent Unit.

"_What now_?" she practically snarled.

"Um…since it is clear that we will stay to fight, I wanted to ask. Do you have any orders for now? We should start with the preparations as soon as possible, so…"

"Oh. Yeah. That's right." She thought for a moment.

"As of now, I want you to make sure that there are no tourists in Wutai. If you still find any, get'em a boat and make'em leave, no matter what. We'll also need guards, _reliable_ guards, at the town entrances to ensure that no foreigners get in. Everyone and everything that is not Wutaian is _not_ welcome. Easy as pie, right?"

He nodded. "Understood."

"Beside that, you guys will be taking care of mobilizing our forces, preparing everything, constructing traps and training the ninjas, especially the newbies, did I get that right?"

"Yes, mylady."

"Alrighty. Just make sure that no kids smuggle themselves into the fighting exercises. I did that too, so I know how easy it is. But I want no kids in that battle, got that?"

She vividly remembered the feelings of horror and helplessness when she'd been a child in the middle of the Wutai War.

"Certainly, mylady."

"Cool. See ya around, then."

He nodded again, bowed, and then left.

_Geez, what did dad do to them? These guys seriously need to loosen up…_

And before she knew it, the half hour had passed.

She looked at Staniv uncertainly. He smiled and nodded. She couldn't believe it.

No one had left.

And here she was, thinking they'd all be running off because their leader was nothing but an inexperienced, insolent teenager.

She ascended the stairs and as she looked into all the faces again, she saw many wearing the same determination she felt. And there was more. Rage, hope, even admiration. Devotion. But no signs of fear or doubt.

Suddenly, she felt an assuring warmth swell in her chest. All of them were couragious. All of them were loyal. All of them would die for Wutai, for her. And she would for them. They were _her _people.

She didn't think she had ever been so proud in her life.

"Alright," she called out to them with new vigor.

"We have six days. It won't be easy, people, but you know what? I know we can do it. So let's show 'em what Wutai is made of!"

They shouted answers, some were cheering, some clasping, some threw their shuriken up in the air.

And all the while the flames were dancing.


	4. Chapter 3 - Reunion

**Unseen**

**Author's Note: **Alright, Unseen is back with...an AVALANCHE get-together! I tend to have a lot of fun having our heroes interact, especially when it comes to Cid and Yuffie. So I hope you'll enjoy reading this lil' chapter as much as I did writing it.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

_**Chapter 3 – Reunion**_

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

A bright red streak above the horizon announced the arrival of a new day. The morning air was chilling. Clouds of breath hovered in front of the three figures that made their way through a slowly brightening forest.

"Damn mild winter they have here," breathed Cid, wading through the leaves in his usual pants-and-T-shirt-attire.

Tifa replied with a hard look, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.

They had decided to leave the Highwind on a large grassy field close to the shore. After what had happened, it seemed like a bad idea to subject the Wutaians to an unknown flying object approaching their town in the dead of night.

Cloud was leading the way and soon Tifa recognized their surroundings. They were on the same path they had taken when Yuffie first lured them here to run off with their materia shortly after.

And just like back then, they suddenly found themselves in the middle of an ambush.

"Stop right there! You are not permitted to pass."

The gruff order seemed to come out of one of the trees. Instantly, the three companions stood back to back in a small circle, sword and spear drawn; gloved fists lifted.

"Show yourself!" challenged Cloud. In a blur of movement, two men leapt out of their hiding spots, landing gracefully on their feet before the group, effectively blocking their way.

It wasn't hard to guess their profession. They were both clad in dark grey from head to toe, scarves wrapped around their lower faces, concealing their lips and muffling their voices when they spoke.

"Here we are. Now turn back to where you came from."

The speaker was a tall guy with a reddish brown mane and a deep wrinkle between his eyes.

Several unsheathed slim daggers glinted weakly on his belt, a chain that ended in a scythe the size of a hand was slung around his waist, and a long thin silver spear with a hook attached to its peak peeked over his shoulder.

Cloud glared, gripping the hilt of his sword tighter.

"Why? We've come to help."

The second ninja, a sturdy man with wild black hair and intensely bright eyes, gave him an almost bored look.

"Foreigners 'ren't 'lowed i' Wutai no longer. An' even if 'ey would, we wouldn't take 'eir help."

It took him a second to make out the heavily accented words, but when he did, Cloud narrowed his eyes.

"Not allowed anymore? Who said that?"

"Order of the Empress."

He shared a look with his comrades. Cid looked like he'd just swallowed a very furry rat and Tifa frowned deeply.

"We're from AVALANCHE. We're Yuffie's friends. And yours too," she said quietly.

The redhead shrugged. "No exceptions."

Cloud raised his eyebrow at Tifa and Cid. Both nodded.

"No exceptions my ass!" was Cid's retort as he threw himself onto the ninja, crossing spears with him. Immediately, a scuffle ensued. Cloud brought his sword down hard on the metallic staff the black-haired shinobi used to block his attack, while Cid cursed repeatedly when his spear was deflected and his foe slammed a knive that had been hidden in his wristband into the pilot's ribcage. Diving beneath a shuriken thrown her way, Tifa sprinted towards Cid's attacker, using her speed to ram her boot full force against the side of his head. As he stumbled, she ducked, kicking his legs out from underneath him. Rolling backwards, he got back to his feet surprisingly quickly, catching the fighter off guard when a chain tied itself around her arm. Pulling her towards him with one hand, he lifted the small but sharp scythe with the other.

Meanwhile, Cloud struggled to regain control of his sword that was held in place by a rope which seemed to be made of – hair? Those guys were using weapons he'd never seen before. Still holding tightly onto the thin rope, the ninja pounced, in his hand a dagger with a sharp hook on its blade that gleamed threateningly in the rays of the rising sun. Stepping sideways, Cloud pulled his sword back with all his might. Just as the ninja reached him, he swung the blade forcefully against him. Instead of knocking his enemy over, however, he found his sword blocked yet again – by a knife not even half its size. The ninja grunted with the effort, but stood his ground. Until Cid's spear swept against his ankles and threw him off his feet.

"Damn motherf*#$ing –"

Cloud pointed the tip of his sword against the fallen ninja's throat, keeping him from getting up again.

The other shinobi stopped pulling on the chain around Tifa's forearm.

Within a split second he jumped behind her, holding the scythe to her own throat.

"I'd call that a draw," he said evenly.

Cloud drew his eyebrows together as Cid snorted.

"And I'd say we're not done just yet," Tifa replied calmly, before grabbing the arm that held the scythe. Simultaneously twisting the arm and her own body, she spun around and bent forward, throwing the shinobi over her shoulder. He landed hard on his back and the chain around Tifa's arm came loose. At the same time, something crackled behind her and a sudden pain lanced through her mid-section as a bluish-white bolt of lightning sliced through the air. For an instant, Tifa heard nothing, saw nothing, just felt the electricity surge through her whole body like a swarm of bees. Very prickly bees. Then she heard shouts that quickly calmed down into murmurs…there was a voice that hadn't been there before. Was she unconscious?

Slowly, she blinked her eyes open, realizing that she lay on her back in the soft forest leaves. Three faces hovered above her, blurry and distorted. Gradually, they took on more realistic shapes until she could make them out. Cid's stopples and the cigarette dangling from his mouth. Cloud's blazing blue eyes and spiky blond hair. And a small, childlike face with pale cheeks, deep brown eyes and jet-black hair that kept falling into them. Tifa shot up so quickly that her forehead collided with the one she had just stared at so wonderingly.

"YOW!" Yuffie yelped as she fell back onto her rear, pressing a hand to her head.

"Ditto…" Tifa muttered through gritted teeth, rubbing the sore spot above her eyebrow. After a second her head snapped back up to look at the girl across from her.

"Yuffie! I'm so glad to see you!"

With that she scooted over to the ninja and hugged her hard. Yuffie's eyes widened as her body went rigid.

"T-Tifa! Leave that be! Hey! Lemme go, you're- Tifaaaa!" Yuffie squawked indignantly, trying to squirm out of the woman's grasp.

When Tifa finally pulled back, she had a stern look on her face.

"You're so thin, have you been eating properly?"

Knowing full well that the two ninja guards were watching her from the shadows of the trees, Yuffie felt her ears turn hot and stood up quickly, mumbling.

"Yeah, yeah, missed ya too, Teef…Leviathan, did you have to give her brain damage?"

"What was that?" Tifa raised an eyebrow at her, getting up as well.

"Um, er, nuthin'!"

"What happened, anyway? How long was I out?" Tifa asked, massaging her temples.

"About two minutes," Cloud answered, looking at Yuffie.

"Yeah, just when that sucker over there," Cid pointed at the black-haired shinobi that leaned against a tree a few feet from them, looking as if he might melt with the trunk at any second, "switched yer lights off with his f%§*ing lightning materia, because Spikey here couldn't pay f%§*ing attention to him, the brat showed up and played boss, tellin' 'em to leave us the f#*$ alone."

Yuffie lifted her chin defiantly.

"I don't play, I _am _boss, you old cancer stick."

The corners of Cloud's lips twitched.

"Thanks, anyway."

Yuffie gave him a what's-wrong-with-_you_-look.

"Pfh…coulda taken those weaklings out anytime," Cid puffed, releasing a smoke cloud.

"I see that," Yuffie mocked, raising a brow at the sight of the dark red splotch that tainted the pilot's shirt.

Tifa nodded thoughtfully.

"I get it…but what are you doing out here, Yuffie? Aren't you supposed to be in town?"

"An' what day is it? Did we miss some damned festival or why yer all dressed up?" Cid added, smirking.

"Shut up, old man," Yuffie shot back sourly. She was wearing a black kimono, adorned with white roses, and a white obi around her waist. On her feet were geta, traditional Wutaian sandals that looked like wooden boards on thick stilts. Tifa wondered how the ninja managed to stand on them, let alone walk.

Cid was about to keep teasing, when he saw Cloud, who stood behind Yuffie, shake his head.

Yuffie, not noticing the silent exchange, turned to Tifa.

"The moment you guys showed up here, one of my men left his post and came to me to report. Judging from his descriptions, I thought that maybe it could have been you, so I came…surprise, it really is you guys…didn't think I'd see ya again."

Tifa didn't miss the hint of bitterness that leaked through that last statement and she felt a pang of guilt at that.

"So there were three people here when we arrived…I didn't notice. Your men are good," Cloud said.

"They're supposed to be."

There was a moment of silence. Seeing Yuffie again after half a year, lacking her usual jokes and cheerful mischief, made them realize all over again why they were there.

"So….how's Wutai?" Tifa finally asked, even though she wanted to scream at Yuffie '_how are _you_?_'

But she knew the ninja wouldn't answer that.

Yuffie looked up at her, grinning.

"Holdin' up. Nothin' gets Wutai down, you should know. It's my home after all."

"That's good ta hear, kid," Cid said, patting her head almost affectionately. Yuffie grimaced.

"Hey, stop that, oldie, I ain't your plush toy!"

She danced away from him, sticking out her tongue.

Cloud looked at her gravely. Hesitantly, he started: "…those ninjas of yours called you the Empress…if that is true, then Godo…"

Yuffie looked at him. For a long moment, she just looked. Then she averted her eyes, turned her back to him and replied curtly: "Godo's dead."

Tifa was about to say something to her, anything, but the ninja didn't give her time to. Walking deeper into the forest without looking back, she called over her shoulder.

"Follow me, I'll show ya Wutai. I guess there're some things you can help with, too, so you can stay for now."

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Wutai was a mess.

The most striking thing was the missing Pagoda, the king of buildings in Wutai, that used to gracefully watch over the town. What was left of it was a heap of red and black rubble, one floor high.

And while some parts of town seemed completely unscathed, others were nothing more but a scorched mass of wood and earth. The black spot Godo's house left behind was just one of the horrible examples.

Even the river, once clear and azure, had turned a muddy brownish-green. Pieces of wood could be seen swimming on the surface.

The well had been destroyed, in its place gaped a deep crater.

People were hurrying through the streets, carrying buckets of water, wood, tools and similar things. Ninjas, armed and clad in full war gear, were scattered all across town, training, organizing and patrolling.

"Holy shit."

Cid had trouble keeping his cigarette in his mouth as they continued following Chekhov, who led them through town to show them where and what help was required.

Yuffie had excused herself with the words that she had 'stuff to do' as soon as they had reached Wutai.

"It looks like it's been the center of a war..." Tifa whispered uncomfortably.

"That is closer to the truth than you may think, mylady," Chekhov answered quietly.

"What do you mean by that?" Cloud asked.

Chekhov stopped and turned to face them.

"It is kind of you to come to our aid. However, I advise you to leave town within the next five days if you don't want to get caught up in Wutai's affairs."

"What affairs?" Tifa inquired, confused.

Chekhov gave her a grave look.

"Lady Kisaragi is preparing a battle that might as well be the beginning of a war. Or the end of us all."

Cid choked on his cigarette.

"What the f#§$ does that mean, woman?"

"I beg your pardon, I am not allowed to mention this to foreigners. I just want you to be warned."

"Okay. Is there a way for us to help? In this battle?" Cloud offered.

"You will have to ask the young Lady, I'm afraid."

Cid cursed.

"Why're you morons all relyin' on the brat so much? She's jes' a kid, can't let her handle everythin' alone! How 'bout tryin' t'think for yerself, dammit!"

"Cid!," Tifa warned.

"She knows what she is doing and so do us Mighty Gods, mylord, " Chekhov replied cooly.

"Where's Yuffie now? I want to talk to her about this," Cloud interjected.

"In her house. I suggest to knock before you enter."

He nodded to his comrades before turning to head back to the heart of Wutai.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

She stood in the darkness, unmoving. The overbearing silence gave the wide, empty room the atmosphere of a morgue. Her weapons glinted dully at her, as if to lure her to shed the blood of her enemies with them.

Her dark eyes, hidden by the shadows, stared intensely at the intricate katana that hung right before her. Gorki had recovered it from the remains of Godo's house.

It was her mother's sword.

The sword Yuffie had seen her die fighting with.

The sword her mother had taught her to fight with even before she was able to throw her first shuriken properly.

She had never touched it after her mother's death, promising herself that she wouldn't try to wield it until she was worthy of it.

But now, she needed her mother's strength. The time had come to prove herself and Yuffie couldn't remember ever having felt so nervous and small.

Slowly, she stepped forward and took the weapon from its hold.

A delicate green rope was tied around the end of the hilt. The two cyan-coloured bells on its end jingled quietly as she unsheathed the shimmering blade and held it up in front of her.

Closing her eyes, Yuffie pressed her forehead to the side of the blade.

"Don't worry, mum, dad. I'll make you proud. I promise I'll make you proud…"

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

When she finally stepped out into the night, the moon shone brightly down on four figures waiting before her front steps.

"Ahh, I feel so important," she grinned at them.

"No shit, brat, didn't know we'd need fu$#ing _permission_ to get inta yer damned hut, "

Cid retorted sourly.

"My apologies, but I have been told- ," Gorki started indignantly, but Yuffie cut him off with a beckon of her hand.

"Thanks, gramps. Go to sleep. I'll talk to ya tomorrow."

Three pairs of incredulous eyebrows rose as the Mighty God acquiesced with a deep bow and an obedient "as you wish; good night, mylady".

Cid was the one to voice their thoughts.

"This is fu$#ing crazy…brat's empress…holy shit, I must be dreamin'…world's goin' down…Sephiroth was jes' the frickin' beginning…"

Yuffie promptly gave him the finger and stuck her tongue out.

"Shut up, chimney man. I got a country relyin' on me and it ain't my fault that they've all got traditional sticks up their butts."

"That's much better," Cid grumbled, as Tifa went over to hug the ninja again.

"Are you alright?" She inquired, holding the girl at arm's length and looking her up and down. "You look tired."

"Geez, Tifa, I told ya I'm fine…anyone ever told you that you have a mum-complex? Go take Cloud and make kids with him," Yuffie answered, imitating loud kissing noises for emphasis.

Tifa's face immediately turned a visible shade of pink and Cloud choked in the background.

"You…you're such a twit sometimes!" She tried to smack the teen in the side of her head, but Yuffie ducked fast enough to merely get her hair ruffled. She grinned.

"So Yuffie, " Cloud coughed. "Care to tell us about the battle you're going to fight?"

Within an instant, the playful mood switched to dead serious.

Yuffie straightened. Her chin lifted and her bony shoulders seemed broader as the subtle wind made her kimono and hair sway around her body. The moonlight reflected in her eyes and for a moment, she looked much older than she was. For just a moment, one could clearly see what it meant for the spunky teenager to be forced to rule a country.

"…I received a letter from the people who…started this whole thing. They want to crush Wutai. I'm not sure who they are and why they're doing this. But I know one thing. I'm not gonna let them get away with what they've done. Good thing they challenged us. They want an open battle, on the first day of Christmas."

"…and you're gonna do precisely what they want and storm head on into a fight with someone you know nothing about?" Cloud asked sharply.

Yuffie looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Yuffie, this could be a whole _army_ you're planning to face with your handful of fighters," he elaborated, a barely noticable hint of irritation in his voice.

"So what?" she drawled in a bored manner.

"What?"

"So what? And if it were a thousand god-forsaken soldiers, there's no way we're not gonna stand up against 'em. Either they go down or we do."

"Yuffie, listen – ," Tifa began.

"NO! I don't have to listen to you! You've always lectured me! 'You're too young to understand' you said. 'You're just a materia-addicted brat' you said. No, I don't even wanna start with all the crap you said to me. But you know what? I don't give a rat's ass about your shit, I never have! I'm not the damn spoilt kid you think I am, because I DO understand what it means to fight, to see people die, to _kill_! I know what you're thinking, you're thinkin' the dumb kid has no idea what she's doin'. You can shove your freakin' oh-we're-so-grown-up-opinions up your collective noseholes, you hear me?! I. Don't. _Care_!"

During her little speech, Yuffie had become louder and louder and stomped her geta so hard into the ground that the wood cracked. She was breathing heavily and had a ferocious glimmer in her eyes.

Her three companions stared at her like she had grown another head. Tifa's forehead creased deeply, Cid looked to the side and Cloud at the ground.

Yuffie continued calmly in an icy tone:

"I don't care what you do. Just don't get in my way. This is my country, my people, and no matter what happens, I'll fight for them. Until the end."

That said, she stepped between her friends and passed each one of them. When the darkness of the night was about to swallow her, she turned around again and gave them a wide, toothy grin, looking like a carefree child again.

"Oh yeah, I reserved a room for you guys at the Inn…You'll only get two beds, though. Be nice to Tifa, Spikey."

Winking, she disappeared behind a dark house, leaving the AVALANCHE members dumbfounded in her wake.


	5. Chapter 4 - Preparations

**Unseen**

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, I'm back from my summer vacation and just saw it's already been a month again. About time for an update, huh? So in thanks for your cool reviews, here it is!

Disclaimer: Yeye, I don't own FFVII, but I'll gladly sell my soul to Square Enix for it. Hey ho, let's go.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

_**Chapter 4 – Preparations**_

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

"Alright, let's get this show on the road!"

Yuffie punched her fist into her open palm in excitement.

"Yuffie, may you at least put your uwagi into your hakama, you're running around like a slob."

Chekhov was exasperated.

Yuffie shot her a remorseful look. Here she went again, treating her like a toddler that couldn't tie her shoes. Despite her being their empress now, sometimes the elder Mighty Gods seemed to get stuck at a time 10 years ago, when they still had to babysit and teach her manners.

Muttering curses under her breath, Yuffie did as she was told and stuffed the lower end of her top into her pants. Her uwagi was a shirt consisting of black cloth laid over a light, elastic chain mail with many inner pockets to hide weapons in. She was wearing the same kind of garment on her wrists, reaching up to her elbows. She bent down to check if the bandages on her hakama, the black pants, were tied tightly enough around her ankles to not come loose in battle.

She had never resorted to her complete ninja gear before; in fact she had always laughed at Godo for being a 'wimpy old coward' as she had called him for using his. She preferred her usual and more comfortable clothes, but this once, she did understand that she should take as many precautions for her safety as possible. It just might save her life.

"Much better."

Chekhov gave her an appreciative look-over.

"So, is everybody ready, did Tifa get the note delivered yet?"

Her question was answered by a knock on the door. Chekhov went to open it, but hesitated.

"That'll be her. Are you really sure that -"

"Yes. We've talked about this enough, Chek. Let her in."

The woman nodded, slid the door open and bowed before Tifa, before taking her leave with another deep bow in Yuffie's direction.

"So, it's the big day, huh."

Tifa looked at her sadly, taking notice of her appearance.

Yuffie just nodded, then asked:

"Can we maybe talk downstairs?"

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

"I can't believe you actually let us be on our own without any info on what you're doing for five whole days!"

Tifa was storming up and down in the copious cellar of Yuffie's house, aggravated.

"Well-"

"And now you have the NERVE to let me get dragged out of my bed in the middle of the night for an 'audience'!"

"That's because-"

"We didn't come here as repair service for the town, Yuffie, we came as support for _you_! I was...all three of us were _so _worried that something might have happened to you, and then you just run us over with the news that you're going to throw yourself head first into an all-out _war _and _then _you avoid us for _five whole DAYS_! Do you have any idea how that makes us _feel_?"

Yuffie let out a desperate sigh.

"Tifa, I am _sorry _that I am the fucking head of this country, okay, I am _sorry _that my old man had to get himself killed so I have to do all the work, and I am _sorry _that Wutai's internal affairs are supposed to _stay _internal and don't allow me to share them with you."

Yuffie spat every single 'sorry' sarcastically.

Tifa stopped in her tracks to look at Yuffie, the little, grown-up baby of their family that was AVALANCHE. She looked at her erect posture, at the way her face seemed to be clenched to a fist. And suddenly all of Tifa's anger evaporated. Suddenly she could see the teenager from a completely different angle, if only just for a moment, but she saw a child, forlorn and forsaken, forced to follow into footsteps that were yet too big for her. She was acting the same way she had done after Aeris' death, putting up this unfazed, spiteful facade. The situation was fairly similar, Yuffie had no time to mourn, she had to fight. And Tifa realised that this was her way of coping with it all.

Tifa's expression turned soft.

"But even leaders are allowed to ask for help and share their burden from time to time, you know."

Yuffie gawked at her for a moment, caught off-guard by Tifa's 180 degree turn.

Then she crossed her arms and muttered:

"What the hell's the matter with you..."

Tifa exhaled audibly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have...snapped at you like this. You wanted to talk to me about something? I'll gladly help with whatever you need."

Yuffie nodded, her eyes sharp.

She motioned with her finger for Tifa to stand beside her. The fighter did so, expecting Yuffie to give her something, but was confused when the ninja walked away instead, approaching her wall that harbored various weapons between the stone statues of her Gods.

"Wait there a sec."

"You're not going to pull a prank on me, are you? This feels just like this one time when you ran off with our materia and trapped us down here with that...cage of yours..."

Tifa looked over her head and trailed off, her heart skipping a beat. The big square metal cage was hanging there, just like last time. She was about to move out from under it, when Yuffie chuckled and she realised that the ninja was too far away from the lever on the other end of the room that she had let Cloud use back then to activate the trap.

"Unfortunately I can't afford that kid's stuff right now, Teef, so don't worry, I just wanna give you something."

She took something that looked like a long, smooth dagger from its holder. A loud clicking noise reverberated through the room and Tifa whirled around as something crashed down around her. She blinked once to see the lever suddenly in the lowered 'on' position - through iron bars.

"What the...what's going _on_? How did you...?...!"

Tifa's heart was racing.

Yuffie turned around from the spot she was standing at, grinning.

"Phew, that was close. For a sec there, I thought you saw right through me. Good thing you didn't. Now I can say...HA. You fell for it again! 'Never trust anyone that easily'!

Tifa gave her a furious look. She was repeating the same words she had said back then. She was mocking her!

"But you weren't even close to that damn thing!"

Yuffie held up the dagger she had taken, and used a kunai knife to seemingly cut the air. Then she put the weapon back where she took it from.

"Please, Teef, I'm a ninja. We're masters when it comes to traps. A little thread here and there and I just need to move the right object to trigger the miracle. Pretty cool, huh?"

While she braced herself with that, she slowly sauntered back towards the stairs.

Tifa groaned inwardly. How could she have been so stupid? She had _known_ something was fishy. Her feelings of concern for the ninja had kept her from questioning her intentions.

"But why, Yuffie? Why are you doing this?"

On the first step, Yuffie paused, half-turning around.

"I told you. I don't want you guys to get in my way."

"Yuffie, we defeated Sephiroth together! If nothing else, we could at least fight alongside you, I don't get why you have to _trap _me to keep me out of this!"

Then Tifa stumbled over Yuffie's words.

"Wait...you said 'you guys'...don't tell me Cloud and Cid...?"

The fighter's heart sank at Yuffie's grin.

"Are being taken care of by my homies, yeah."

She frowned deeply.

"_Why_?"

The ninja's confident expression seemed to falter before she turned her back to Tifa.

"...Thanks, Tifa."

"Yuffie, what's going on?"

"Thanks for...caring I guess. You came to my aid even though I didn't ask you to. Even though I honestly thought you had forgotten about me. Why not, after all the trouble I got you into back then. Bet I cost you quite some nerves. I almost got you killed when I let this disgusting fat geezer capture me. But...this is between Wutai and these...fuckheads messing with us. I won't let you risk your lives for me, not again."

She turned to face her one last time, wide grin back in place.

"You take care of yourself, Boobs, I'll see ya around!"

With that, she started ascending the stairs. Before she was out of view, Tifa shouted after her, gripping the bars tightly.

"Yuffie, stop! Don't do this! Is your pride really worth dying for?"

Yuffie laughed, her shoulders shaking.

"Mine? No. But Wutai's sure is."

And she was gone.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Hmhm."

Staniv and Yuffie were seated on the highest hand Da Chao's, overlooking the whole town, the forest surrounding it and the valley that stretched out far to the south, blending into the mountains to compose the horizon. All of this was shrouded in gradually brightening darkness; a single red sunray was anxiously peeking over the distant black mountain top, making it look like heaven had set it on fire.

"It looks like Leviathan will cry today," Yuffie mumbled and Staniv nodded.

A vast, dark grey mass of clouds was obscuring the sky above the valley, only tearing up at the horizon to allow the sun to pay them a short courtesy visit at dawn.

Staniv squinted. "Can you see any trace of them yet? I'm afraid my eyes aren't the best anymore."

Yuffie chuckled, grazing him in his ninja armour with a mischievous look.

"You sure you up to this, old man? Lookin' like a grey toad in a tin can."

His eyes twinkled.

"You're still a greenhorn as long as you let appearances fool you."

Yuffie laughed at his repartee.

"Nah, nuthin' to see yet. So tell me, did my friends give ya a hard time, gramps?"

Staniv chuckled.

"That lad was too polite. Too young too, just like you, fooled by my frail disguise."

"Yeright, 'disguise'."

Ignoring her snide remark, he continued.

"Drank my praised tea without suspicion, will be a while until he wakes up."

"And the walking cigarette? You managed to get the stuff I gave you smeared onto his filters?"

"All done, all done."

"Good job."

Yuffie looked intently down at the Valley Of The God's Ascension. Legend had it that this was the place where Leviathan and Da Chao had fought their final and most intense battle as enemies, unintentionally forging the land in the process as they set Their boundless powers free. With its vast plains and forests, ending in cliffs towards both sides of the surrounding oceans, the valley posed the entire length of the continents northern 'arm', reaching from south of the capital to just a bit north of the mainland's core. It was only fitting to choose this place as battlefield since the enemies had to cross the valley to get to Wutai, no matter what.

As she kept on looking, she noticed movement that hadn't been there before.

She rose to her feet.

"They're coming."

Staniv got up as well, standing beside her.

"I can't make them out, where?"

Yuffie squinted. The darkness had lifted like a veil and the sun was losing against thick clouds. They were just miniature dots, but sure enough, they flowed out of a patch of forest like a viscous poison. Yuffie had expected them to lie about the date and try to catch Wutai in a surprise attack instead, but here was the disproof.

She bared her teeth. Fools.

"Is everyone in position, are the messengers ready?"

Staniv nodded, having caught sight of them as well.

"They should have already passed some of our men by now, if they keep moving towards us, they'll be encircled soon."

Yuffie smiled smugly.

"Fucking losers, what are they thinking, challenging a ninja nation and walking right in like that. Blockheads seriously expected us to dive in with a frontal attack. Can't be all that smart, can't be all that strong, right?"

Staniv frowned.

"Never underestimate them. Good for us if you are right, fatal if not. Although they sure do seem a little over-confident."

"Well, they're the ones underestimating _us_," Yuffie growled.

"We go through with the plan, that, if I may emphasise, can hardly be called a strategy?"

"Of course we will!"

Staniv hesitated.

Yuffie shot him a heated look.

"What? You said everyone's ready, traps are all in place and they're moving just like we wanted 'em to. So what're you giving me that look for?"

"Yuffie, I...I can't stop straining that I _severely_ dislike the idea of you-"

"Move it, gramps," Yuffie cut him off gruffly.

"We go by plan, I"ll be fine. Leviathan's with me. You go move your bony old ass down the mountain and inform everybody that the curtain's up. The battle's on _now_."

Bowing, Staniv gave in and started descending.

"Good luck, my child."

When he was out of sight, Yuffie sneered.

"Like I need it."

She lifted her arm to the sky, the red materia in her hand glowing brightly. A tingling heat shot through her veins and she could already feel the adrenaline pump in her blood. This was it. Now it began.

"I summon you, Leviathan!"


	6. Chapter 5 - Takedown

_**Unseen**_

**Author's Note: **So it begins. Time for some action.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

_**Chapter 5 – Takedown**_

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

The rain pooled together from every direction, joining the growing water pillar ploughing through the air.

Yuffie grinned.

"Going down!"

With that she sprinted towards the edge of Da Chao's fingertips, flung her arms out, and jumped.

The air soaring past her filled her ears, made her eyes tear and pulled on her clothes.

Beneath her, Leviathan solidified and the water on His deep azure scales shimmered in a thousand shades of blue. To her, He was the most beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes upon. He spread His wing-like fins and stretched out in His entire length like a smooth, enormous snake as He lined up before her, imposing head facing the rapidly nearing ground, graceful tail swaying in the wind.

Yuffie reached out her hands and grabbed onto Him by the dry little bulges where the fins joined His back. Right above the tree tops, Leviathan pulled His head up and dashed into a 90 degree turn, His fluttering tail brushing the top branches so that countless leaves whirled up behind them. Yuffie slung her legs around His streamlined body, grabbing on tightly, the high of flying igniting shivers racing down her spine.

The ground sailed past beneath them in a blur, the rain made it impossible to see much at all, but Yuffie didn't need to see, she knew these grounds better than the back of her own hand. She knew exactly where to drop the bombs. One, two, three. Her senses quaked with the blinding, ear-shattering explosions as Leviathan swerved from the blasts. He cut down low above the earth and right into a line of armed men. He started to swirl and Yuffie seized the momentum. She let go and was immediately hurled against someone by the forceful storm Leviathan emitted as He sliced through the enemy's ranks. Yuffie managed to draw her mother's katana just in time to slash the chest she landed on.

_First one down_, she thought as she straightened, standing above the dead...wait, what?

But she wasn't given any time to stare at the corpse because something big and bulky came down on her from the side. She evaded with a fast backward flip and pounced her huge attacker. Her blade crossed his heavy-looking great sword and her eyes widened when she got a close look at his face. His skin was dark grey and his head was horribly misshaped; a horn-like metallic protrusion grew out of his temple. He threw her back with a step forward and a strong push of his weapon. Yuffie growled.

"What...what the hell are you? Some kind of freakin' cyborg?"

He had no expression on his face, empty eyes, no emotion in his monotone voice.

"We are ShinRa's Legacy."

Yuffie grit her teeth, hatred blazing up in her again.

"Tsk...ShinRa's dead, dude. And so are you!"

She unstrapped the Conformer from her back and threw it, then ran straight at him, activating the Fire materia in her sword. He wiped the over-sized shuriken away casually, and stood his ground, parrying her attacks in an almost bored fashion. Sparks flew all around them but Yuffie couldn't seem to get a blow through. The soil was muddy and slippery from the rain and she almost lost her balance when she stepped into a puddle. She let herself fall back to avoid his swinging blade in the last second. Twisting her body, she put the hilt of her sword in her mouth and caught herself in a handstand. One hand trying to find footing in the loose bottom of the puddle, she grabbed his leg with the other one. Grinning was hard when you were trying to hold a sword with your teeth. Talking was, too.

"Bolt Two."

He was too slow to react; the air crackled around them as bolts shot up Yuffie's arm and his entire body. He spasmed, before he lurched forward when the returned Conformer buried itself in his back. Using his falling figure as leverage, Yuffie came back up with a somersault, then rammed the heel of her boot into the back of his head to smash him into the ground.

Pulling her bloody shuriken out of his flesh, she stood, soaked by rain and mud as her headband's ends fluttered in the breeze.

"All that metal didn't turn out that chummy with electricity, huh?"

She let her gaze wander. Leviathan was still clawing in and out of many fighting soldiers around her, keeping them distracted. Soon, her ninjas would be ready to make their move from the shadows. Until then, she would just have to divert their attention and steer them directly into the prepared traps. She took her sword from her mouth and gripped it tightly as the bells on the hilt's end jingled quietly. The corner of her mouth lifted.

"Here goes nothing!"

And with her Conformer in the left, the katana in her right hand, Yuffie stormed towards her next enemy.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Wutai had turned into a ghost town. As if it wasn't strange enough that he woke up in a closet after the last thing he remembered was drinking tea, not booze. He tried to look for Tifa, but didn't find her. Looked for Yuffie, but didn't find her. Looked for anyone but didn't find them. Except Cid. He found Cid. Lying in the bed of their room at the inn, awake and murderous, though the only way to tell was the dangerous glint in his eyes because it seemed like he couldn't move any part of his body.

Cloud was worried. The battle had begun, he could tell, but it wasn't only that. It seemed that Yuffie and her countrymen had taken Cid and him out deliberately, and he needed to find Tifa to make sure she was alright. Yuffie conspiring against her old friends to fight on her own didn't exactly soothe him, either. He wasn't sure whether to be glad that they obviously hadn't managed to incapacitate him for long enough or not. He would have rather slept a bit longer than to worry over all these things he didn't know.

After wandering around in search for anyone to get information from for quite a while, he ran into one other person. However, it was none of the people he had expected to find.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Now it was official. This was a total freak show. This actually gave the term 'freak show' a new definition.

Yuffie evaded the _paw_ of the guy she was fighting, who seemed to be a perfectly muscular dude on the left side of his body...and a behemoth on his right. Including horns and spikes and _fangs_. Damn, he could pack a _punch_. As if that wasn't enough, another freak - some squirt who looked like a vulture, with leathery wings instead of arms, kept trying to _bite_ her with a beak equipped with saw blade teeth.

She jumped as the ground gave in beneath her after Mr. Muscle hit it with a particularly strong punch, and spun in mid-air, bringing up her blade to deflect some hard substance the birdie had spit at her. She had taken down about a dozen of other creatures that looked like haunted-mansion-zoo-crossovers, and she was getting pissed at having to re-evaluate the enemy's strength all over again with each new opponent. She never knew what they could do until they had hit her with their skills, and several bleeding wounds, even if shallow, bore witness to that by now.

Sword in her mouth once again, she threw four small shuriken in the direction of the dwarf with her right hand while she hurled her Conformer at the big guy with her left. Former was the first who squeaked when the small fire bomb attached to one of her throwing stars exploded in its face; the behemoth however, simply caught the Conformer. She grinned anyway, because the weapon started glowing in a bright orange before a meteor shower shot down from above and bombarded him until he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and breaking grounds. Not wasting any time, Yuffie shot a fireball right into the fog, swinging her blazing katana out in a wide arc as she dashed towards the spot he last stood in. She sliced air though, and didn't see the furry fist coming at her until it slammed her in the ribs. The impact sent her sailing out of the smoke and she flew for a few seconds, unable to move, the breath ripped from her lungs, until she collided with something.

As soon as she could see clearly again, she saw...an axe coming right at her. She rolled to the side instinctively, willed her aching body to keep rolling until she got back to her feet, then blocked the next blow with her sword mere inches before her face. This thing was completely black, like she imagined a black hole to be, with two red dots that could be eyes and an attack speed straight out of hell. It cut her arm twice before she managed to get some distance, breathing heavily, feeling the rain and sweat trickle down her face. She heard a battle cry and whirled around.

"What the..."

The vulture rammed its head into her belly, feathers scattering all around them. The pain that pierced her guts nearly made her throw up. When she hit the ground, she managed to grab the ruffled bird-thing by the head, keeping its snapping beak away from her face, and slit its thin throat with her blade. Purplish liquid splattered onto her clothes and she dropped the dead creature, standing shakily, trying to catch her breath.

Something moved in the corner of her eye, and she sprinted forward to evade the Axe From Hell. Retrieving four throwing knives from her leg pouch, she fumbled for a bit while she kept running, the monster on her heels. When she was done, she turned around and threw the weapons at her opponent, grinding her feet into the ground and dashing back towards the axe wielder when the flash bombs exploded upon impact. Taking her sword in both hands, she stabbed out at the enemy swallowed by the light; when she felt resistance, she activated the Fire materia once again and the flaming blade went right through the shadowy figure with an intense heat flickering around them. As it fell apart in the flames, Leviathan sped by and the wind tore her aside just as her Conformer dug into the ground where she had just stood.

The behemoth-man walked out of the mist floating over the battlefield. At some point during her fighting, most of the smoke bomb traps littering the area must have been activated by her men. That meant that they had already started to herd the enemies together and drive them towards the cliffs. Yuffie smirked despite the blood she tasted in her mouth. Soon, this would be over.

She tore her Conformer from the mud and walked towards her opponent, fixated his hollow green eyes with the slit-shaped pupils. He moved faster. She started running. His face scrunched up as he leapt high into the air. With a roar ripping from her throat, she hurled the Conformer high above his head, then jumped at him. His face contorted in a joyless sneer at the large shuriken missing him by far. The air crackled as fine strings of bundled energy became visible around his trembling beast fist. Yuffie moved right into the hovering blow, her katana burning brightly. He pulled back and then lashed at her. Right before the ninja's face, however, his fist stopped abruptly, suspended for a split second as if frozen in time. His eyes widened as some invisible force yanked his arm back. Realisation flashed in them before he turned around to stare at the Conformer in the distance coming back at him. But it didn't hit him, once again it went past until it jerked and he felt another strong pull, around his arm, his torso, his neck. It changed direction again, went around and around and around. Moving in circles as it was guided by the thin black thread that could only be seen if it glinted when reflecting the flaming blade of the ninja. The thread started in her fingers, wrapped around his body, and ended tied around the large shuriken. With each new round that it circled him, the threads tightened, cut into his flesh, pressed his limbs to his body, made it impossible to move. He tensed all his muscles, tried to break free as he fell. Yuffie was above him now, looking down at him, whispering.

"Fire."

The thread inflamed and his body was on fire. He howled, an inhuman cry of pain as his body burnt and Yuffie lifted her blade for her final move.

"Bloodfest!"

She drove the blade through his flesh, tore it out, brought it back down, kicked his body further towards the ground, spun in the air to slice through him from the side, slammed her foot into his spine to bring him back up, slashed his human arm, his beast arm, pierced his chest, his lungs. Blood flew in every direction, the flame's sparks clashed with the falling rain, blood red light flared up with every new impact. At last, with an ear-shattering crack, Yuffie's final blow ran her sword through his middle until it was buried to the hilt and sent him crashing to the squishy ground where he landed with a loud smacking sound, fading lights and dying flames as mud and blood spurted up, splattering her face.

She landed on her feet, taking deep breaths as she felt the energy drain from her body. She was alone in the mist, alone with all the blood and Leviathan's tears. She had to get to the cliffs. She hoped Leviathan would still be there, she could only summon Him once a day and even that time was too limited. She needed Him for the final step of the plan, for the utter defeat of the enemy. And she needed to find this 'Bone' person. It wasn't enough to just let him run into their trap, she needed to make him pay, personally. She would take him apart cell by cell, make him regret the day he decided to murder her father, regret his very existence.

Eyes narrowed in determination, she sheathed her sword and slung the Conformer onto her back, running through the fog to where her ninja's had been instructed to gather the entire freak show.

She wasn't sure how far she had gotten when she stumbled over something. It was some small blue bundle lying on the ground, rattling quietly. She wiped the rain from her eyes and squinted down at it. Her heart beat faster when she recognized the ninja attire. She crouched beside it, roaming it with her fingers until she found a face. Her blood ran cold when a tiny hand came up to grab hers and familiar eyes, hazy with pain, met hers.

"S-Shake?" Her voice trembled.

"Thank...Levia-" He coughed, blood dripping down his lips.

"...the Gods you're al...alive..."

She frantically procured her Cure materia. She knew she was out of energy, she had already cast too much magic, but she had to try.

"Cure Three!"

Green light engulfed the short man and he coughed and twitched.

"Kid...no...it's over..."

"No! We can fix this, just drink this!"

Yuffie put a potion to his lips. He gave her a strained smile, then looked down at himself.

"No...no way to fix this one..."

Only now Yuffie noticed that his legs were missing. There was only blood in their stead.

Her body started to shake uncontrollably.

Shake's bloody hand let go of hers and grabbed her by the front of her shirt to pull her down, closer to his face, wheezing with the effort.

"I...I fought the one who..."

His battered body was rocked by another coughing fit.

"Shake, please don't talk. Don't talk or it'll be like in the movies, like in these fucking cliches, don't talk or you'll die, and you'd die before you said what you wanted to anyway, so just don't talk and you won't die, okay?"

Yuffie was pleading. Shake closed his eyes, grinning wearily.

"Don't...be...retarded. This...is...the biggest honor I..."

"Screw honor! Honor isn't worth dying for!"

Yuffie clenched her fists in his clothes, feeling the warm blood on her hands, his cold body against her skin.

"But...Wutai is."

Yuffie's eyes watered and she shut them tightly.

"_Yuffie, stop! Don't do this! Is your pride really worth dying for?"_

"_Mine? No. But Wutai's sure is."_

She knew she would feel the same way in his place.

"Yuffie...this guy...this...freak...who killed...Lord Godo...he's in...Wutai."

Yuffie's eyes shot open again, she stared at him and felt like she had to suffocate.

"What?"

He gasped quietly while his shaking hand tugged on her shirt urgently.

"You have to..."

He relaxed somewhat, and smiled slightly once again.

"Yuffie...I always wanted some badass...last words...but now I know...there are...more important things...so listen...Wutai...needs...you. Survive."

She knew it, she knew that he had only saved his last strength to say what he wanted to say, what he _had_ to say. She knew as soon as he was done, he was _gone_. And as his hand fell away from her and he stilled completely with this complacent look on his face even in death, Yuffie felt like she was the only person in the entire world.

"You moron...why didn't you..."

She clenched and unclenched and clenched her fists again, squeezing her downcast eyes shut to keep the tears from falling while the rain did, Leviathan's tears did.

"Why didn't you call me a brat just one last time..."

"_Yeah, guess lunatics we are. We have no idea what we're up against. And still we just run straight in…I kinda like that."_

_His toothy, cocky grin. _

"So I could...I could...call you a midget again and we would fight and laugh...damn you, Shake. Damn you."

_Him chasing her around the whole village during the midsummer festival after she had stolen his ice cream. The both of them standing beside each other, shoulders hunched and heads ducked as Chekhov lectures them about all the visitors they ran over and goods they broke in the process._

"You stupid midget."

And as she doubled over from the pain inside, she didn't notice being watched by cold, content eyes. Drawing his weapon, he turned and slowly walked away, stalked away to make enough noise on the squishing ground to be sure she would follow the sound of his footsteps.


	7. Chapter 6 - Home

_**Unseen**_

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

_**Chapter 6 – Home**_

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Leviathan was gone. The Gods had left her. She had failed.

She arrived at the cliffs to find her ninjas battling a horde of humanoid monsters. She had taken too long to mourn for Shake; the final step of their plan to use Leviathan's mighty Tidal Wave to wash their enemies down the cliffs was thwarted. Because of her squandering time, because of her inability, there would be many more to mourn. There was no fast way to finish this anymore, and if Shake was right, Wutai had already been infiltrated. Yuffie grit her teeth and gripped her weapons tightly as she ran towards the enemies ahead.

This might just be it. This might just be all that was left for her. If this was the end, she would make sure that she would take every last opponent down with her. For Godo. For Shake.

For Wutai.

She swirled the sword in her hand until the blade posed as elongation to her elbow and slammed it into the back of the first hostile target she reached. She sent the Conformer flying with electricity surging through the metal and it grazed one creature after the other in a wide arc, igniting a chain lightning attack that made the air sizzle.

Meanwhile, Yuffie impaled someone else's back, then jumped on his shoulders to meet another airborne enemy. At the same time, some kind of metal rod was hurled at her and Yuffie deflected it with her blade, spinning in the air while throwing shuriken in every direction. Several attackers went down with a thump and she evaded an incoming bat-like thing, before kicking it hard towards the ground. She landed, caught her returning Conformer and immediately yanked it up to block a sword blow directed at her, then sidestepped when another attack came from her left side.

The attacks came faster now, from every direction and she became aware that she was moving in the middle of the rainy battle field, just a few steps from the edge of the cliffs, blood and mud spurting up with every twist of her body.

It was like dancing between death and destruction.

Her blood was on fire, she felt incredibly hot, incredibly cold, mad and sad and strong and weak and _insane_. She blocked, slashed out, parried, threw, jumped, kicked, evaded, countered, hit, got hit and every single muscle in her body _scorched_. It felt so disgusting to pierce their flesh, break their bones, _destroy_ them. But it was addictive.

She leapt high into the air, followed by several opponents all around her with their ugly mouths gaping in silent battle cries.

She impaled the first with her Conformer, pushing herself further up with her feet against his body, using the momentum to rip her Conformer out again. Number One. _For Shake._

The next one that came at her got a blade in the face and a knee to the ribs before he went down. Number Two. _For Aeris._

Two heavily armored, one-eyed abominations took her on from both sides and she used her Contain Materia to whirl her body around like a small tornado, losing orientation for a short time as everything blurred, until she stopped in the air abruptly and rammed the sword in her right hand into the mid section of one and a spike of her Conformer up the chin of the other. She felt an enormous pressure on her limbs as both were blasted away in a spiraling gust of wind. Number Three and Four. _For mum and dad._

Another swordsman shot at her from below. She crossed blades with him several times, seizing the collisions to twist her body in the air to avoid the attacks of others surrounding her. With a kick to his jaw she sent him into a lateral position; the force of the impact made her own body bend backwards and she spun over until she was in the perfect position to strike. She lined her katana up with her arm once again, then swung it out to the side like a scythe and hit him with all she got. His bones cracked before he crashed down to the ground at full speed. Number Five. _For AVALANCHE._

Then a small fish, another winged thing, attacking from the wrong angle; she turned just right to break its neck with a single kick. Number Six. _For everyone who's ever died or lost someone because of you damned ShinRa dogs._

When she came down, she let go of her sword for long enough to throw three kunai knives towards the ground, then gripped the hilt again tightly before she put her entire weight into the fall as the attached bombs went off. She lifted her burning blade and sparkling Conformer above her head before she brought them down hard on the enemies below her, targeting a hulking fighter in particular. The ground cracked in an intense tremor, the air vibrated and when her weapons connected, a crushing wave of heat and light exploded right before her face, numbing her senses.

She was blown backwards, blinded, with nothing but a beeping sound filling her ears and pain shooting through her body to signal her that she had hit the ground.

_Number Seven and probs a few squashed ones_, she thought distantly. _For Wutai._

When she could see again, she noticed the edge of a glinting blade hover right above her eyes.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

"Who are you?"

The man's mouth pulled into an unsightly grin. His teeth looked razor-sharp. Cloud grabbed the hilt of his Ultima Sword. He seemed like a casual, if unusually pale and lean man, but...

No normal human being had such monstrous teeth.

He bowed deeply with a mocking expression on his face.

"I apologize. I did not mean to startle you. My name is Unknown."

Cloud frowned. Was he pulling his leg? Nonchalantly, the man straightened and was about to just pass him by to find a humongous blade block his path. Cloud cleared his throat.

"...what are you doing here?"

The man, Unknown or whatever, gave him a disdainful look.

"I do not believe I owe you an answer. Step aside, it would be very unfortunate if you caused me to be late for my tryst."

Something in his eyes seemed familiar. Reminded him so much of the haunted insanity in _his_ eyes...and as they stared at each other, seemingly frozen, certainty settled in both of them.

They both moved at the same time. As Cloud's sword shot forward, Unknown jumped up and the blade slid by inches beneath his back. Catching himself with a backward roll, he landed nimbly on his feet. His arms glowed before they rose above his head, the motion igniting a wall of flames between them. Cloud used his Ice materia to neutralize the fire for long enough to break through. Unknown had gained more distance by now, and Cloud swung his sword, putting a good portion of his strength into the blow as he brought it down hard on the ground. The wet earth before him was clawed open by a surge of energy racing straight towards his target. His opponent evaded the blow with a triple somersault, then charged at him with unexpected speed. Cloud brought up his sword to counter, but just out of his weapon's reach, Unknown skidded to a halt, tore his mouth far open, and...breathed at him.

Suddenly, glaring pink bubbles were everywhere in his vision, engulfing him. For a moment, it seemed like the air distorted, all sound was drowned out and he was blinded. A sharp pain shot through his head and he stumbled for a moment, squinting. He lost all feeling in his body, he was weightless, he was...he blinked. Where was he?

He looked up at the ceiling. The same old ceiling. How did he...get here again?

"Cloud, honey, dinner's ready!"

His heart jumped. No matter now. If he forgot, it couldn't be that important. Not as important as not making his mother wait. He got up from his comfy bed and hurried down the stairs.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

She rose to her feet cautiously, keeping her eyes fixed on the tall man before her. He looked different than the others, not like a monster at all. He was pale, with long jet-black hair wildly sticking out in all directions, his eyes a piercing blue, emitting the same greenish glow of mako she had seen in Cloud's. He wore a simple shirt and cargo pants and wasn't exactly geared up for the occasion, with the exception of his strange, shining sword. It looked extremely delicate and glittered like a jewel, as if it was made of crystal.

He gave her time to scrutinize him, register her surroundings, the raging of the seas beyond the cliffs not far from them, the smoke rising from a huge crater several feet away, fallen fighters gasping and groaning on the ground.

"Dude, either you missed out on the dresscode or you went to the wrong party."

The corner of his lips twitched.

"It really is you. You've grown older, but you haven't grown up, I see."

Yuffie snarled at him, hiding her disturbance at the way he spoke to her.

"What? Who the hell are you?"

"I've watched you. You make a formidable fighter. You always had the spirit, but who would have thought you'd surpass your father at such a young age?"

She stared at him. He met her eyes evenly, a derisive look crossing his features. Yuffie gripped the hilt of her mother's sword so hard that her knuckles turned white. Her face contorted.

"You're this Bone guy."

It wasn't a question.

"Lost little Yuffie," he purred. "Did your parents leave you all alone?"

Something in her brain short-circuited. A roar escaped her throat as she threw her Conformer with all her might, bolts threading all around it. Then she pounced on him, lifting her blazing blade high above her head with both hands. The Conformer repelled from his chest with a clank, merely causing him to stagger a few steps back, but he still managed to parry her sword with his crystalline one. The impact forced his boots deep into the slushy ground as he tried not to go down on his knees, and Yuffie, without even touching the floor, twisted her body, smashing her foot into his side. She ignored the pain shooting up her leg and activated her Contain Materia to enhance the kick to a small whirlwind that threw him spiraling off his feet. Grabbing the Conformer, she landed with a backward flip and ran after him as soon as her toes touched the ground, jumped up again and hurled her weapon at his suspended form. It hit him head-on, but recoiled yet again as he was sent to the ground. Yuffie caught the large shuriken as it flew back at her, then flung both weapons out to her sides. The energy accumulating around her hands washed through her body in an intense heat. The air flickered as she growled.

"Doom of the Living!"

And she attacked with all the overboiling emotions finally gushing out of her. When her glowing weapons clashed with his prone body, a blinding, violet light flashed brightly between the fighters and satisfaction, profound, euphoric satisfaction surged through every cell of her body with every new blow. She kicked him up into the air like a rag doll to maul him from all sides, her own body nothing more than a moving bundle of pure force, pure hatred, pure bloodthirsty joy. She shot through him time and time again at devilish speed, shrouded in the ghostly light of her limit break technique as she slashed him over and over and over. The elements mingled to one last destructive strike of immense power for her finishing move. When the Conformer connected with his belly, for a split second, she felt as if she was hitting a titanium wall; an extreme pressure made her hand crack and just when the pain became unbearable, the energy fully unloaded and blasted The Bone away from her, back into the ground where his downfall wrecked the earth.

Spinning in the air, she landed smoothly on her feet not far away from him. However, she only remained standing for a moment before she went down on her knees when they could no longer support her. She leaned on her sword and breathed heavily, suddenly feeling weaker than ever before. Her fatigue frustrated her, for her mind was still seething with her hunger for vengeance; her gratification of crushing this _monster_ subsiding much too quickly. How _dare_ he _purr_ at her like some..._son of a..._She urged herself to calm down and take in her surroundings.

She could still hear sounds of fighting in the distance, and she remembered Shake's words. She had to get to Wutai. She had to kill every enemy there before they found the hideouts of the children and elderly people. Whatever monsters were left here would have to be faced again at the capital's entrance.

She procured two shining orbs from the inside pockets of her ninja top to exchange the Materia in her gear. Then she forced herself to stand up and lifted her hand, feeling the last portion of energy drain from her body.

"I summon you, Phoenix!"

The beautiful flaming bird rose high above her and she felt a soft warmth alleviate the throbbing in her hand and foot slightly, recharging her spirits a bit, as she gave the mental order for it to cruise over the battlefield for everyone to see. Phoenix was their signal for retreat. The faster everyone was gathered back in Wutai, the better the chance of squashing everyone else who had managed to get in past the guards.

She started to limp north when she registered movement out of the corner of her eye. She half-turned around, but was too slow to bring up her weapons before the rapidly nearing thing reached her. Exhaustion made her unable to understand what was going on until something ran her through, entered her belly and exited her back with a jolt of pain piercing every nerve in her body. For an instant, everything went black, every sensation escaped her grasp. Then the pain was back and she fell backwards, seeing the sky like she had never seen it before, feeling the rain on her skin like she had never felt it before. When she landed in the mud, her back was the center of a new, dull wave of pain washing over her.

She coughed as blood rose in her throat like bile, blinking hard to make her vision less blurry.

"My turn now."

There was the crystal blade hovering above her face again, but it was shorter than before and ragged, it seemed like the tip had broken off. Blood was dripping from its edge. Then she saw him. Bone was practically unmarred. No mangled flesh, no broken bones. A few scratches, barely bleeding, and his torn clothes were the only signs indicating that he had fought at all.

Horror spread in her as she turned to the side to spit out blood, then fought to get up somehow. He crouched beside her, observing her with a look of morbid fascination. She stared at his body as the blood ran down the side of her mouth. His shirt had been ripped open to reveal his muscular torso. But it wasn't only the fabric...in some places his skin was...gone.

In its stead, she could see a solid, black substance, like a sort of stone or crystal, here and there streaked by fine white lines.

"W-what..." She coughed up blood, trying to pull herself together and stop _croaking_.

"What the fuck...are you?"

He regarded her with a mildly curious expression.

"I'm offended that you don't seem to remember me at all."

With that, he kicked her right into the wound. She gasped for air, then retched up more blood, while pressing her hand into the cut. She grit her teeth and tried to push the overwhelming pain back.

"C-cure."

Green light sparkled around her and she choked at the inferno raging through her body as the Materia started to heal her wound. She felt another kick in the ribs before her hand was yanked away from her injury and he pulled the equipped Materia out of her wristband.

"You've always been a bad loser. But I wanted to tell you a few things anyway, seeing as Godo failed to inform you. You have a right to know."

Yuffie's rage perked up again at the mention of her father's name; how _dare _he say it. She reared up despite the pain and the fact that her weapons lay too far from her to reach them, and managed to punch him in the face. His cheek didn't give in at all, it was as hard as a freaking rock. Yuffie's knuckles cracked and she grit her teeth. Was that crystal stuff covering his entire body? The next thing she registered was _his _fist in _her_ face and she flew back, hitting the ground once again with black dots dancing before her eyelids.

"Still just as cocky and over-confident as well," she heard him say as he sauntered beside her.

"I'll tell you a little secret."

He bent down and she dimly registered that he was close enough to whisper into her ear.

"You can't damage me. Below my skin is another layer of flawless black diamond, maybe the hardest substance you will find on the whole planet. I am the perfect weapon. And you want to know who is to thank for me becoming so special? Your father."

Yuffie snarled, trying to move.

"You...you killed him. I'm gonna...make you pay!"

He snorted, whether at her words or her attempt to get up once again, she wasn't sure.

"You stupid brat, Godo killed himself."

She stared at him in shock, but quickly tried to mask it as a defiant glare.

"Fuck yeah and he ripped his own heart out, too, after he slit his throat! You sick bastard, I'm gonna-" But she was out of air, her mouth was full of liquid and she had to spit it out again to not choke on it.

His eyebrows rose as he watched her in amusement. She wanted to claw his damned eyes out.

"It's the truth. A good friend of mine has a special ability as well. Like me and all of my comrades, he was injected with cells of a certain monster over the course of many years. In my case, well, I was lucky, I became invincible. I am Diamond Weapon in human form. As for him...well, let's just say, his 'Abnormal Breath' technique makes him a master of illusions. Making Godo kill himself was a cinch for someone as skilled as him. Just lead him to believe he would kill his enemy by slitting his own-"

Howling, Yuffie threw herself onto him, grabbing his throat as tightly as she could and squeezing, squeezing _hard_. Unfazed, Bone gripped her wrists and twisted them, sending his knee into her stomach. Yuffie doubled over, crumbling back to the ground, wheezing. She was on her knees before him and she hated, hated, _hated _what was happening, what had been happening, she couldn't take this anymore. Her body shook with the pain and effort to not give in as he looked down at her with narrowed eyes.

"Now, there's something else you need to know. The reason why all of this started...the reason why I am the one killing you, why I am the monster and you are the God...the reason why you aren't in my place like you were supposed to be..."

And as Yuffie lifted her eyes up to meet his, to see the pain in them, as they were the only ones beneath the pouring rain, on the verge of their existence, lethal enemies and yet, from the distance, two youths fighting for what they thought to be right, Yuffie knew that his next words were the truth.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

Her knuckles were bleeding. Oh, if she got her hands on Yuffie, things would go down, alright. It had taken her ages to bash those blasted bars in until they bent enough for her to crawl through.

She met only a few fighters on the streets of Wutai, hurrying past her, ignoring her and her questions. She didn't see any familiar face, except for Cid's in the inn she had already checked, giving her puppy dog eyes to silently plead for her help. She would have to apologize to him later for leaving, but her Heal Materia had done nothing against his paralysis and there was no use wasting time when he was safe. She had checked the pagoda ruins and Yuffie's house, but didn't find anyone she hoped to find until she turned a corner behind a small hut.

She froze for a second but was quick enough to retreat back into the shadow of the building to assess the situation despite her racing heart.

Cloud was there, sitting on the ground with his sword discarded beside him, and before him, a thin man kept spitting pink bubbles at him. It was an almost comical picture if Tifa hadn't recognized the attack; she had experienced it in the sunken Gelnika, when Cloud, Yuffie and her had fought a hideous, plant-like creature. She recalled losing herself completely back there; it could have ended badly if Cloud hadn't stepped in just in time. Putting on her Premium Heart gloves she retrieved from her room at the inn, Tifa decided now was the time to return the favour.

She crouched down and put her hands to the floor, whispering:

"Ice."

The ground froze up all the way to the man's feet and he stopped breathing bubbles to look down at himself in confusion.

When he looked up again, Tifa was before him and kicked him in the jaw. He flew to the side and she struck him down with a karate chop into his neck; some stones jumped out of the cobbled ground as he hit it with force. Surprisingly, he was tougher than he looked, because he recovered quickly and tried to roll away from her, but Tifa closed the distance immediately, knowing that she had to stop him from using his special attack at all costs.

She smothered him with a hail of punches and he turned out to be agile, too, managing to avoid quite a few but not all. Finding an opening in his defense after an especially strong blow to his collarbone, Tifa crouched and swept his legs out from under him with a low roundhouse kick in one smooth motion. He tried to catch himself with a backward flip, but before he could twist his body, Tifa slammed her fist into his stomach, effectively steering him into the ground again.

She paused for a second with her fist pressing him to the floor, waiting for the whirled up dust to clear and thinking of a way to take him out without killing him. But suddenly, he gasped out those pink bubbles again and Tifa jumped away from him, her head starting to swirl. She staggered as he rose to his feet, still emitting his Abnormal Breath. Just as her vision blurred, a ray of light cut through the fog and she squinted in time to see Cloud slice through the man before her. The impact sent him crashing into a house and Cloud took up pursuit.

As soon as her legs stopped wobbling, Tifa followed through the giant hole in the wooden building. It seemed empty except for Cloud holding his blade to the throat of the man pressed against a broken shelf on the opposite wall. He opened his mouth again, but Cloud unceremoniously stuffed a purple Materia between his pointed teeth. Tifa walked up to them, adjusting her gloves.

"I'll take care of the rest."

Cloud nodded, his blue eyes still clouded with turmoil at the illusion he had just snapped out of. Stepping aside, he flung the man towards her, and with a well aimed chop to a pressure point at the back of his neck, Tifa sent him into a deep sleep.

* – * – * – * – * – * – * – *

She watched her blood stain the ground and closed her eyes. She couldn't...she didn't know how to...she clenched her aching fists and squeezed her eyes shut even tighter.

"What about his heart? Why did you take it?" she asked breathlessly.

His voice was as emotionless as it had been the entire time, even while describing how...

"Don't worry, we put it to good use."

She shivered, torn in so many ways, at the end of her rope. What was she supposed to do? Why wasn't there anybody telling her what to do? All the time, all this damned time, there had always been people trying to tell her what to do, how to behave, and she had hated it, hated being sixteen and pesky, hated being too young to be taken seriously, hated to be mistaken for being immature and obnoxious when all she had wanted to be was strong and independent.

Like her mother.

Bone lifted his cracked diamond blade.

And where were they now? Where were they when she desperately needed somebody to tell her what to _do_?

"It's time to end it now, Yuffie. Though the outcome doesn't change, I wanted you to die with the truth because none of this was your fault. Neither was it mine. You deserved to know. So look at me. Look at me and die with pride, the pride of Wutai, the pride your father didn't possess."

Images of memories flashed in her mind, her emotions crushing her like a breaking wave.

_Shake grinning. "Guess lunatics we are."_

_Chekhov looking at her with confidence. "Don't say that."_

_Staniv's calm expression. "The people rely on you."_

_Godo, wearing the grumpy look he always gave her after an especially brazen retort, with his last message to her. "Protect Wutai."_

_Her people before the destroyed pagoda, looking up to her, free of doubt._

_...Her mother cradling her against her chest as she was dying with a smile on her face, knowing it had been Yuffie she had given her life for._

And suddenly she knew the answer.

They were right here. Right inside her memories. Right inside...her heart.

_Her pride. Her Wutai. Her __**home**__._

She willed her aching muscles to react to all of this, boiling inside her, putting her veins on fire, making her _move_.

The blade's splintered edge went right through her hand.

Yuffie lifted her head, her eyes ablaze, registering the look of disbelief on his face.

"I never wanted to..."

_I never wanted to hear all the things that you told me._

Her impaled hand trembled with the anguish and effort to withstand his strength, blood dripped down to blend with the rain and flow as one into one of the many puddles on the battlefield.

"I never wanted to rule Wutai. To lead it. I was never..."

Bone's eyes widened. Her hand was gripping the hilt of his sword, pushing him back forcefully.

"I was never made for politics...and all that crap..."

Blood trickled down her arm, joining a consistent red flow between them.

"But..."

He used his second hand to steady the one holding the sword. He had to grind his feet into the ground to keep from being shoved backwards. How was this possible with her injuries? Where did her strength come from?

"But as long as these people put their hopes in me..."

The rain coming from above mingled with the water on the ground, a connection between heaven and earth.

"As long as they _believe_in me..."

A gust of wind rose up, circling her, creating a vortex of water around her. It got stronger by the second, blowing him further away from her. The end of the blade was partially pulling out of her hand.

"As long as they need me...I'll..."

_No_, he thought, incredulous. _She's..._

She rose to her feet slowly, but steadily, forcing him to move his arms up with her through the blade in her hand. She stared him right in the face, her eyes an intense golden colour.

"I'LL NEVER LET THEM DOWN!"

He looked at her in shock, caught in those eyes. Leviathan's eyes. His body froze completely. The water moving around her had taken the form of Leviathan's head. The Holy God Himself was glowering at him through this girl.

"SO YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S GOING DOWN NOW!"

The water image opened its fangs wide and came straight for him. It pierced him like a thousand shards of ice, leaving him frozen, unable to move. A beam of blinding light shone down from the grey skies with him in focus. All he could do was blink. Despite all the wind and water, for one moment everything was so quiet that he could hear Yuffie whisper from - right beside his ear.

"All Creation."

The broken sword in his hand shattered into a thousand pieces; he felt the hilt dissolve in his grasp as the light flashed, burning every cell in his body, tearing his muscles apart, _melting _the diamond beneath his skin.

The water gathering from all around moved together in the form of a tremendous, rippling serpent, towering behind Yuffie, eyes glaring in the same golden colour as hers. Yuffie scanned him with these eyes, the veins around them bulging out, giving her an uncanny look. She outstretched her hand as a pillar of focused water carried her sword towards her. Taking it in both hands with the bells on its hilt jingling quietly, she stood before him, looking at him for a moment, memorizing his pain-contorted face.

Then she rammed the blade into his navel, breaking his diamond shell with a loud crack and blood splashing her face. When she pulled the edge out again, he crumbled before her, falling with the rain like she had done before him. Like too many others had done before him.

Leviathan cried as He passed over her head and flew into the ground, turning into a massive tidal wave upon impact that washed away everything in its wake. Glowing green particles and strings of light rose from everywhere around her as Yuffie finally allowed her body to break.

She toppled over, cherishing the scent of the sea, the rain caressing her skin and the view of the vast, endless skies holding all her hopes and dreams.

She smiled as she closed her eyes.

_Mum...dad...are you...proud of me?_


End file.
